Golf Club Fitting

Titleist Golf Club Trial

The full-set Titleist Golf Club Trial program provides golfers with an easy way to experience Titleist products on either the course or practice tee to help determine the right equipment for their game.

One week and 12 time zones from Masters Sunday, Louis Oosthuizen trusted a Pro V1x golf ball to his second victory of the season at the Maybank Malaysian Open.

Oosthuizen, the runner-up in last week's playoff at Augusta National, closed with a 4-under 68 for a 17-under 271 total and three-shot victory at Kuala Lumpur Golf & Country Club, capping a week that began with a 30-hour trip from Georgia to Malaysia.

“It was a long journey to get here and I have to be honest and say that I didn't expect to play this well because of the tiredness," said Oosthuizen, who has now played his last eight rounds in 27 under.

“The one thing I did know was that the game was there so that helped a lot. I was pretty tired at points in those first couple of rounds but overall it has been great and I am over the moon with the result."

Titleist Pro V1 and Pro V1x players have combined for 44 victories so far this season across the worldwide professional tours, more than seven times the nearest competitor with six and more than all other golf balls combined.

A total of 5,000 players have teed up Titleist golf balls in those same events, more than six times the nearest competitor with 789 and more than all other golf balls combined.

Oosthuizen was the only player in Malaysia to post four rounds in the 60s (66-68-69-68), rolling his Pro V1x in for one eagle, 19 birdies and just five bogeys. He finished fourth for the week in greens in regulation at 81.9 percent.

"On Thursday I knew the game was there - it was just a question of whether or not I would be able to go all the way physically," said Oosthuizen, who moved to No. 12 in the Official World Golf Ranking. "Having a good week this week was important and playing well. I didn't want to come here and play bad but to win means a lot because I have been playing well for the last few weeks now and to win gives me a lot of confidence for the rest of the season.”

Oosthuizen topped a leader board that featured four Titleist golf ball players in the top 5, including runner-up Stephen Gallacher (Pro V1x). David Lipsky (Pro V1x) and Rafael-Cabrera-Bello (Pro V1x) tied for third.

Ninety-four players in the field relied on Titleist golf balls for their success, more than four times the nearest competitor with 24 and more than all competitors combined.

• NATIONWIDE TOUR: Pro V1x loyalist Alex Aragon earned his first career Nationwide Tour title at the TPC Stonebrae Championship, leading a 1-2-3-4 finish for Titleist golf ball players in Southern California.

Araxon closed out a week of significant weather delays with a 4-under 66 for a 10-under 270 total, one shot clear of Pro V1 golf ball players Duffy Waldorf, Paul Haley II and Matt Harmon, who tied the course-record Sunday with a 9-under 61.

"I'm trying to keep it all in perspective," said Aragon, who played 54 holes on the weekend after Friday's play was washed out.

"It's a major step and I'm proud of myself for doing it."

Aragon was one of 106 players in the field that trusted Titleist Pro V1 and Pro V1x golf balls, more than five times the nearest competitor with 19 and more than all other golf balls combined. Titleist was also first in iron sets (46); sand, lob and approach wedges (164); and putters (63).

• CHAMPIONS TOUR: Titleist golf ball players swept the top five positions on the leader board as Pro V1x loyalist Michael Allen earned his second-career Champions Tour title at the Encompass Insurance Pro-Am of Tampa Bay.

"It's been a long time since I beat these guys," Allen said. "I haven't beat them very often. It's very nice to get on 18 and finally go, 'man, I got them all.'"

A total of 59 players in the field teed up Titleist golf balls, more than four times the nearest competitor with 14 and more than all competitors combined. Titleist was also No. 1 in iron sets (15); and sand, lob and approach wedges (59).

• PGA TOUR: Titleist was the overwhelming golf ball of choice at the RBC Heritage with 90 players, more than six times the nearest competitor with 14 and more than all other golf ball combined.

Titleist was also first in iron sets (34); sand, lob and approach wedges (127); and putters (58).

• JAPAN TOUR: At the Token Homemate Cup, 57 players relied on Titleist Pro V1 and Pro V1x golf balls for their success, nearly twice the nearest competitor with 31. Titleist also led the field in hybrids (38); and sand, lob and approach wedges (108).

The PGA Tour season pushes on this week with the RBC Heritage at Harbour Town Golf Links, about a three-hour drive southeast from Augusta National.

While Harbour Town is one of the most picturesque stops of the year, it also packs quite the punch with some of the Tour's smallest greens and tightest fairways.

"It's a classic golf course. It's one you have to really manage your game around," said Pro V1x loyalist Luke Donald. "You have to think your way around very well. ... It's going to be tough to hit a lot of greens this week. And because of that you need a good short game."

An overwhelming majority of players this week are relying on Titleist golf balls to successfully navigate them to the finish line, marked by the famous view of the Harbour Town Lighthouse behind the 18th green.

A total of 90 players in the field are playing Titleist Pro V1 and Pro V1x golf balls, more than six times the nearest competitor with 14 and more than all competitors combined. Titleist is also first in iron sets (34); sand, lob and approach wedges (127); and putters (58).

Check out Team Titleist's pictures from the practice rounds earlier in the week in the slideshow below.

Countless times a day, Titleist golf balls are launched from earth, propelling upwards and onwards in a matter of seconds.

Ever wonder what makes them go?

Golfers, their golf clubs and golf swings certainly have a lot to do with it. Not to mention all of the technology, innovation and R&D that gets added to the equation when it comes to making the #1 ball in golf.

However, a golf ball's main source of energy is its core.

Since we’re a rather curious bunch here at Team Titleist, we decided to head downstairs to the Golf Ball R&D department in order to improve our core competency. Here's what we learned from the experts...

The core is a high-resiliency rubber composition that makes up the center and largest component of every Titleist golf ball. In the Titleist R&D department, an entire team of chemists and engineers has been dedicated to formulating cores and advancing the technology (such as the Titleist Pro V1's new ZG Process Core Technology) that helps power the most played golf balls at every level of competitive golf.

"Plain and simple, the core is the engine of the golf ball," says Bill Morgan, Senior V.P. of Titleist Golf Ball R&D.

The core's main ingredient is Polybutadiene (pol-ee-byoo-tuh-dahy-een), a synthetic rubber that produces a high-energy return and can be manufactured to a number of desired characteristics.

"Stiffness, compression, resilience, size, whether it's a single core or a dual core," says Morgan, "all of those things factor into performance characteristics of the golf ball."

In addition to the base rubber, cores contain cross-linking agents that will increase resiliency (speed) when cured, peroxides to catalyze that cross-linking, and fillers to adjust the weight.

(The USGA rules of golf allow for golf balls weighing as much as 1.620 ounces, and since the core is the largest component, the overall weight is adjusted here.)

"Generally speaking, every element that you add to a golf ball changes multiple characteristics of the ball," Morgan says. "So you balance what a particular compound or dimension does against performance characteristics, and you're trying to match that to golfers' needs."

The Titleist Pro V1 golf ball features a single solid core, 1.530 inches in diameter, constructed with Titleist's new and innovative ZG Process Core Technology. The ZG Process, which took over five years to develop, has resulted in Titleist's most uniform core ever constructed – from within the core itself, from core to core within the press and from press to press.

The transformation from uncured rubber to the engine of a Titleist golf ball takes less than 15 minutes at over 300º F.

"It’s the most consistent golf ball that we’ve ever made," says Brian Comeau, Manager of Materials Research in R&D.

Other features of the Pro V1 include a responsive Ionomeric Casing Layer (.045 inches thick), high-performance Urethane Elastomer Cover and spherically-tiled 352 tetrahedral dimple design. The result is a golf ball that provides exceptional distance and durability, increased spin control and a more consistent, penetrating ball flight.

"It's important to remember that no single element of design can determine the performance of the golf ball," says Comeau. "There needs to be a symbiotic relationship between all of the elements, from the core to the intermediate layer, to the cover and dimple patterns."

This combination delivers very low spin off the driver and long irons, a higher trajectory that contributes to longer distance and a consistent ball flight that cuts through windy conditions.

The new Titleist NXT Tour, NXT Tour S, Velocity and DT Solo golf balls also feature different core, cover and dimple design variations that contribute to their relative performance characteristics.

The new NXT Tour, which delivers excellent scoring performance exceeded only by Pro V1 and Pro V1x, has a large dual core, three-piece construction that features a slightly smaller, soft center and higher volume outer core layer. Its soft, thin Fusablend cover features a new spherically tiled octahedral design with four axis of symmetry, and 302 dimples in five different sizes.

The result is a combination of long, consistent distance, commanding short game spin and control, as well as soft feel on all shots with excellent durability.

The new NXT Tour S – featuring a new, proprietary low compression and highly resilient core – was created for golfers seeking NXT Tour-like performance with a softer feel. (This ball is also available in high optic yellow.)

The Velocity is encased in an NAZ2 cover formulation featuring a 332 icosahedral dimple design that delivers high initial ball speed on all full swing shots and playable feel in the short game. It all adds up to a soaring, tight, consistent ball flight and deep downrange peak trajectory.

The new DT SoLo was developed with one objective in mind: Design the softest compression feel possible, while continuing to deliver the long distance and control that DT SoLo players have always counted on.

The cover blend of two soft Surlyn ionomers, in combination with the soft, fast core and 392 icosahedral dimple design aerodynamic package, provides a penetrating ball flight with long roll out for excellent total distance.

Sunday evening at Augusta National, with the world watching and his Titleist Pro V1x surrounded by pine straw, leaves, patrons and trees to the right of the 10th fairway, Bubba Watson settled in to hit the shot of his life.

"Before I even got to my ball, I was already looking at the gap (in the trees)…," he said. "I saw how everybody was standing… And they gave me a perfect line for the draw."

He couldn't see the flag, but that didn't matter. As long as he made the proper swing, Watson knew exactly how his Pro V1x golf ball would perform.

And the execution was perfect: His Pro V1x launched through that gap, making a hard right curve around the trees. It hooked about 40 yards in all, landing softly on the putting surface, inside 15 feet from the hole.

Fans everywhere reacted as if a magician had just pulled Amen Corner out of his hat.

Two putts later, Watson was a major and Masters champion, officially winning with a par on the second hole of a sudden-death playoff with former Open champ and fellow Pro V1x loyalist Louis Oosthuizen.

Watson closed with a 4-under 68, dropping in his Pro V1x for consecutive birdies on Nos. 13-16 to tie Oosthuizen at 10-under 278. Oosthuizen posted a final-round 69, which included the Masters' first double-eagle on the par-5 second hole, his Pro V1x #4 finding the hole from 260 yards.

"It feels – it's just – I've never had a dream go this far… so I can't really say it's a dream come true," Watson said of his fourth-career PGA Tour victory.

"I don't even know what happened on the back nine," he said, sitting in the Masters media center. "I know I made bogey on 12 and then I birdied four holes in a row. Nervous on every shot, every putt. Went into a playoff. I got in these trees and hit a crazy shot that I saw in my head and somehow I'm here talking to you with a green jacket on."

Titleist golf ball players have combined for 41 wins to date in 2012, more than six times the nearest competitor with six and more than all competitors combined.

Titleist Pro V1 and Pro V1x players have also won 11 out of the PGA Tour's first 16 events to start the season.

In total, 4,600 players have teed up Titleist golf balls in events across the worldwide professional tours, more than six times the nearest competitor with 707 and more than all other golf balls combined.

"You don't play the ball if you don't have confidence in it," Watson, who finished T-4 in Greens in Regulation (73.6 percent) for the week, has told Team Titleist.

"If it doesn't feel good to you then you're not going to perform well. For me it's been 20 years and it's still performing well."

The soft feel, higher trajectory and spin characteristics of the Pro V1x give Watson the confidence necessary to work the ball and execute his highly-creative, now world-famous shots, allowing him to land the ball softer and stop it quicker on the PGA Tour's firm greens.

"If the ball doesn't feel right in your hands it's going to be harder to spin," he said, "it's just not going to feel good and it's going to be harder to hit one close."

Watson was one of 53 players at Augusta National that relied on Titleist golf balls for their success, more than four times the nearest competitor with 11 and more than all other golf balls combined. Titleist was also first in iron sets (26); sand, lob and approach wedges (91); and putters (29).

On his journey to the Masters, over his 290 career holes at Augusta National, including Sunday's final two playoff holes, there is one piece of equipment that Bubba Watson has used on every shot: His golf ball.

"You don't play the ball if you don't have confidence in it," said
Watson, he said. "If it doesn't feel good to you then
you're not going to perform well. For me, it's been 20 years and it's
still performing well."